Lichfield Nomads Cricket Club : Match Reports 2003

Church Eaton v Lichfield Nomads
Date: 1st June 2003.  Time: 2:30pm
Venue: Away.   Competition: Friendly - 40 Overs.
Result: Won by 77 Runs.
Match Report by: John Hoddy.

Nomads travelled to one of their favourite venues, Church Eaton, to resume our friendly but hard-fought rivalry against our long-standing opponents. Dave Forster was able to field a strong side which saw the return of Dan Moss after examination duties albeit in a reincarnation in which he seemed to have aged by 20 years. However after a dose of prescription pain-killer he improved drastically. Most of the rest of the team were also suffering the after-effects of celebrating Pete Gardner’s (aka Old Goat) 50th birthday in the hotspots of Rugeley .

On winning the toss, Forster elected to bat and the new  combo of Gardner & Hussein opened. A rapid start off some fairly loose bowling saw Nomads reach 46 off 11 overs before the 1st wicket fell, Hussein was caught off a lofted drive. Gardner was playing well and when joined by Moss, the crowd anticipated a run feast and a score of 200+. A run-rate of 4 per over was maintained up to over 23  which saw 98 runs but Nomad’s 100 was only reached in 25 overs as Church Eaton brought on a couple of niggardly spinners who slowed down the run rate. The pitch was not easy to score runs on as the ball was not coming on to the bat and the bounce was often very low. Moss had been riding his luck having been dropped twice and caught off a no-ball. Gardner celebrating his 50th birthday was eventually out for a well-earned 51 The introduction of Pinfield on to his favourite ground saw him accelerate the score nicely and he produced a cameo innings of 37 off 32 balls . Higginson went in with only 4 overs to go, but kept the scoring going with 6 runs and then Heslington went in for the last 4 balls but did not have to face a ball. The final score of 175-4 was a fine effort on a dead wicket.

Tight opening bowling by Hemmings and Heslington saw Church Eaton off to slow start. Amazingly Greaves dropped an easy chance but despite this shock Nomads kept the pressure on and Hemmings claimed both openers, one bowled and the other caught by Cartwright at square leg. Heslington was replaced by Cartwright, after a fine spell of 10 off 5 overs, and soon claimed a wicket to a fine slip catch by Hoddy diving (falling) to his left. Hemmings completed his fine spell with 3 wickets for 6 runs off his 8 overs and Hoddy was brought on and got a caught and bowled with a good catch off a well struck straight drive. At this stage Church Eaton had scored only 27 off 20 overs and Forster decided to give all his bowlers a spell so Higginson and Greaves had short spells and then Moss came on. At this stage all the bowlers seemed to be getting a wicket with the last ball of their spells and so Forster’s quick change policy seemed to be working. Hoddy took another good slip catch off Higginson to complete his good fielding performance. The last 2 overs were bowled by occasional bowlers , Hussein who claimed his 2nd wicket for Nomads and Pinfield who had a good lbw appeal rejected and perhaps had a run-out off the last bowl when he pulled out the stumps with the ball in his hand, but the umpire was a little unclear over the rules. A spirited knock by Woodhall of 36no gave the Church Eaton score some respectability at 98 for 9. Overall a fine performance by Nomads.

P Gardner                    lbw       Goddard          51
A Hussein                    ct         Rhodes             18
D Moss                        ct         J Smith              35       
M Pinfield                    no                                   37       
P Higginson                ct         Green                   6    
M Heslington               no                                     0   
N Hemmings               dnb  
D Cartwright                dnb                                         
J Hoddy                       dnb                                         
D Forster                     dnb                                         
K Greaves                   dnb                                          extras                                                               26    

Total                                                                175-4   

R Guest            bowled            Hemmings         2
R Masters        ct Cartwright    Hemmings      13
A Fits               ct Hoddy         Cartwright           0
R Miditon         ct & bowled     Hoddy                2
E Smith            bowled             Cartwright         0
N Groves         bowled             Hemmings        2
J Woodhall       no                                             36
S Goddard       ct Hoddy          Higginson         1
M Green          bowled             Moss                13
 J Smith            bowled             Hussein             4
A Guest            no                                                3
extras                                                                  12
                                                               98-9

F-o-W: 1-46, 2-113, 3-156, 4-170